


The fire between us

by Space_Samurai



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Character Study, Death Star, F/M, Huddling For Warmth, Pre-Relationship, The Rise of Skywalker - Freeform, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 17:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18450923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Samurai/pseuds/Space_Samurai
Summary: Of all things, he never thought they'd end up camping on the remains of the Death Star.





	The fire between us

**Author's Note:**

> Re-post with few things fixed. Now, enjoy ;)

While there's a part of him that wishes to speak out freely, after such a  _long_ time of silence, his pride won't let any words come out. And it's justified, he tells himself as he looks at her through the fire.

The flames light up her features and she looks lovely, fierce. There’s a sharpness on her tone as she speaks to him that hadn’t been there before. Not that she has uttered much since their short reunion.

Does he care? Absolutely no. Though the fact that he’s worrying about the resentment she might feel against him and not about the ghost of Darth kriffing Sidious may suggest otherwise.

When he realizes that he really wouldn’t mind for the dark lord to appear, if just to cut the tension that only seems to be rising between them, Kylo starts to question how bad did he sun actually hit him. Because there was no explanation other than unbearable heat.

Also, said unbearable heat had vanished along with the sun. The very reason of why they were currently sitting in  _silence_ with a crackling fire between them. It had been just fine to explore it during the day, but that had quickly changed when the temperature had gone down.

Her pretty Jedi-white clothes weren’t suited for cold weather, though she voiced no complains, she did shake lightly. While on an epic mission, she probably hadn’t thought about bringing blankets. She was probably used to harsh conditions, since she had so willingly joined his mother’s merry band of outcasts; the Resistance’s accommodations couldn’t be much good, and nothing next to his rooms at Supremacy.  

She could have had it all. Had she taken his hand, the galaxy would have been hers. She wouldn’t be dressed in handed down Resistance rags, only the finest naboonian silks would have wrapped her. She wouldn’t be furtively meeting with the First Order’s Supreme Leader to search for the secrets of the Force. But she had well-chosen her fate.

By abandoning,  _betraying him._  Leaving him to die on the Supremacy.

It seem that such was the fate of his life. Betrayal after betrayal. His uncle had betrayed him and he had died for it; his knights had saw fit to question his role as a leader and had paid the price for it.

Would that be the fate of the woman before him? Kylo couldn’t help but wonder.

He can’t actually see himself running her with his lightsaber. He can, however, see the Resistance’s greatest hope striking down the Supreme Leader. The thought makes his chest hurt in a way he’s not willing to admit.

Their eyes met by chance, and for a reason that went beyond him, Kylo didn’t look away. Neither did her. Two could play this game, and they’d both been on it for far too long.

“Do you need anything?” She asked, her features narrowing on a gesture that did not suit her well.

His upper lip curled. “Five hours of sleep would be fine.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Already tired? The desert was too much for you?”

He said nothing and she sighed in response.

“Go to sleep first, I’ll wake you up for your round.”

He snorted, an ugly sound that raised from his throat. “And risk myself to get killed on my sleep? Thank you, but I would rather not.”

She seemed taken aback by his answer, almost offended.

“I didn’t call you here so I could kill you on your sleep.”

“You did went to Supremacy and then left me to get  _killed_ , so I wouldn’t know.”

Too much, too soon. He needed to lower it down or things would escalate quickly.

But she didn’t lash back as he had expected –as he would have  _wanted_ \- she only seemed to grow tired. Kylo was suddenly aware of the light circles under her eyes, how older she looked from the last time he had seen her. War had taken its toll on her.

This woman wouldn’t ship herself to Supremacy to save a lost soul.

“Go to sleep, Kylo.” She rubbed her hands over her face, fighting the slumber that threatened to take her. The Jedi moved closer to the fire, taking on its warmth. It had come with life easily, they had set aflame old scraps from the Empire’s glory. “I’ll even go first, I don’t really care.”

With that, she rose from her seat and made move to go away.

Kylo groaned. “Don’t be ridiculous, you’ll freeze if you go two feet away from here.”

“Then what do  _you_ want?”

_I want you to jump at me and rip my heart off my chest because it would be easier than actually dealing with what’s wrong with it._

“We are by far the most dangerous things in this planets. Arguably. Nothing is going show up while we sleep, and if they do we just have to kill it.”

Rey didn’t seem very impressed by his words.

“Your point?”

“That we need to sleep. And it will be better if we do it at the same time.”

_That way no one gets to kill anyone in the middle of the night._

It went unsaid, but Kylo could tell she got his message. “Fine.”

With that, he spread his cape on the floor and turned on his belly. He could see her shuffling on the other side of the fire. There was no cape to keep her comfortable and warm during the night. But that was her problem, not his.

He closed his eyes and buried his face on his arms.

Before he even got deep into sleep, Rey hissed. His lightsaber flew to his hand on instinct, the red light bleeding with life. He looked around madly for the cause of her distress, only to find nothing.

He turned his saber off and looked back at her. “What was that?”

Rey answered trough gritted teeth. “Nothing.”

His left eye twitched and Rey shrugged.

“Like I said, nothing. I got to close to the fire while I slept.” She rubbed a spot on her shoulder.

He looked down at where she lied, on the cold metal floor.

Her problem, not his…

“Come here.”

“ _What?_ ”

He should have bitten his tongue out.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’ll freeze there. And you are of no use to me if you can’t move in the morning.” It was a weak excuse even for him, but if she thought so, she didn’t voice it. “This is big enough for both of us.”

She mutely moved towards where he laid and wary, she took the place furthest from him and then turned her back. Kylo tried not to take any offence by it. He left his lightsaber next to hers.

Sleep didn’t come easily, and one would tell that he should have been already used to it, but this time there were no nightmares, no Uncle standing over him. Just silence.

An incredibly awkward silence.

His fault, truly. Was he expecting her to curl around him like a snake and sleep soundly?

Like a lover?

He stopped that line of thought before it dared to grow. It was one of the last things he needed with her being so closely. This wasn’t how he had pictured that things would go.

“Do you think we’ll find what we came looking for?”

He was surprised at the sound of her voice, and even more at the fact that she’d moved the tiniest bit closest to him. Though it was him or the fire. He idly wondered which one she’d prefer.

What would her rebel friends think of her if they saw her like this?

“I think we’ll find even more.” He dared to muster. “Are you afraid?” The words escaped him, and he’d gladly pretend that it was sleep making him dizzy.

Why was he suddenly speaking so freely to her? Why was his stance so faltering before her?

Rey thought about it before answering. “I’m not.”

He was, though she wouldn’t ask and he wouldn’t say it.

Rey stretched on the length of the cape, which wasn’t much, twisting until she found a comfortable position. Eventually, far closer than Kylo had dared to hope, she went still.

“Kylo?” She whispered, as if there were someone else that could hear.

He took a moment before responding. “Yes?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

The rotten thing that lived behind his ribs twisted painfully. He kept any bitterness from sinking in.“Neither I am.”

She went silent for a while.

“Thanks.”

In the morning, he'd find himself tangled with her. They would go on with their mission pretending it hadn't happened, and yet turning it into an habit for the remaining nights they'd spend together. 

But for now, he simply lays there, staring at the night sky from what was once the Empire’s greatest weapon, listening to her soft snoring. Of all things, he never thought they'd end up making peace as they camped on the fallen remains of the Death Star.


End file.
